Our Life in Lockdown — A Photoblog
Narrating our personal lockdown experiences through pictures and words.
The last few months have brought an unprecedented situation upon us. This photo blog is an attempt to capture our experiences as we change and adapt. Our experiences may be personal, but yet, at the same time, they are representative of what people around the world are going through right now.
Here are our stories.
From working together to work from home: A shift in location, and mindset
When the lockdown was announced, people had to go from working together, to working from home, almost overnight, leaving us no time to prepare ourselves.
For Anjeli, (Hureo’s founder), the swift lockdown was followed by a swifter realisation that her home was unfit to serve as a place of work. “I didn’t have a work desk which I could use for long hours at a stretch without breaking my back,, so as soon as deliveries resumed, I ordered and set up a work table. On the up side, my home is now getting a lot of love and attention — I’ve bought a lot of plants that create a positive space.
Swetlana, a researcher at Hureo, recounts how she felt guilty about her lowered productivity in the first few months. To improve her focus and spirits, she decided to create a ‘video call wall’. “Things have been tough during the lockdown — a long-awaited trip with friends got cancelled too — so I found peace and calm in craft projects like these,” she narrates.
With our home work stations set up, it was now time to focus on getting work done. Which meant figuring out how to convert on-field projects into remote interviews.
Explains Swetlana, “During the lockdown, we had to interact with participants for one of our research projects, and since we couldn’t travel, we had to do it online. Though it had its challenges, we were able to guide the participants as they downloaded a video call app; and we conducted many sessions successfully.”
Anish corroborates Swetlana’s experience. “I’ve learnt that, if needed, our work can be done from home; apps make remote studies very effective. ” he quips.
While work did carry on, it wasn’t without challenges.
Says Samanth, “Earlier, my peers could review work by just looking at my screen, but now, the whole process — sending files, downloading them, scheduling a call with colleagues, etc. — takes up a lot of time. To tackle this, we’ve started communicating more, during and after each project, to see what went wrong, what went well, and what we could do better.”
For Gauri, working from home is a double-edged sword; while she is happy to spend time with her family, she finds it difficult to concentrate on work, especially when her family is having fun. At such times, she sets up a video call with her colleague, where they both mute their audio and give each other company as they work.
Keeping up spirits and motivation
Apart from productivity, work from home has brought other challenges. As our team members put it, we’re now living inside Zoom calls entirely, and there are no physical barriers for activities. To stay physically and emotionally fit, we’ve been encouraging each other to exercise; we also regularly organize virtual group activities.
Adapting to the lockdown — New routines and behaviours
After the initial shock of the lockdown had settled, Arunima, another Hureo researcher, quickly realized that she could stay sane only if she established some sort of routine. Her new daily schedule now starts with a 6.30 a.m. exercise session. She adds, “Yoga and meditation really help calm me, especially when I feel helpless and anxious thinking about my older parents in Delhi.”
So how does she stay in touch with them?
“Through WhatsApp calls,” she answers, “Though I spend a quarter of every call explaining how to switch on the video to my father, and still end up only seeing only part of his face,” she chuckles.
Whatsapp and other communication apps have indeed been a boon in these difficult times. For example, WhatsApp groups like this one, ‘Singles Quarantining’, help people who stay alone share daily happenings and check in on each other.
For us at Hureo, staying connected also means sharing information on the operational grocery shops, the least-crowded ones, and making sure everybody in the team has essential supplies.
Establishing a daily routine seems to be the strategy many of us have adopted to cope with the extended lockdown. But that doesn’t mean things are monotonous, as the word ‘routine’ may suggest. In fact, the lockdown has compelled us to get more creative with our free time.
Jahnavi, for example, has unleashed her cooking skills, and is working her way through a long list of recipes she has always wanted to try, right from fig jam to a dessert called ‘Pavlova’.
Others, like Gauri and Arunima, are cooking together with friends. Says Gauri, “Earlier, trying out new dishes at new restaurants was my favorite pastime; now I’m looking up recipes and learning to cook and bake the things I want to eat!
Apart from cooking, many of us have turned to music and dance for salvation and inspiration. Says Anish, “Before the lockdown, I was always out, never at home. To ease the boredom of staying at home, I play songs when I’m carrying out routine tasks; music keeps me good company in isolation!”
Coping with the extended lockdown
When the lockdown was extended, two of our team members — Celina and Samanth — decided to head back to their hometowns.
After multiple cancelled flights, Celina and her cousins finally made their way to Meghalaya by train — a journey that took them all of 3 nights and 4 days.
Upon reaching Meghalaya, Celina and her cousins were quarantined for 28 days, even after they tested negative for COVID-19. The lockdown experience has made Celina reflect on life. She muses, “I was so worried about the journey, but I arrived safe, healthy and happy. The government has also taken good care of us during the subsequent quarantine. I realized that we must have faith and leave it to God. When I was in isolation, I also learnt that life without work is meaningless — I’m happy only when I’m busy working.”
Like Celina, Samanth too, headed back to his home in Medak, Telangana.
Speaking of his decision to leave, Samanth says, “In Pune, I stayed at a hostel-PG, and food became an issue. I had to arrange for lunch, since the hostel didn’t provide lunch. Moreover, our hostel had very few utensils, with many people waiting their turn to cook. This was one of the reasons I decided to go home.”
While some of us returned home to our families, others already living with families, especially with older parents, were scrambling to ensure their health and safety. Many of us stocked up on multi-vitamins, immunity-boosting pills, and pulse oximeters; while dutifully downing every ‘kaadha’ (immunity decoction) that came our way.
For me, the idea of not being able to go to the hospital, especially in case of emergencies, was like having the safety net pulled out from beneath my feet. Hence the mad rush to stay healthy and prepare for worst-case scenarios. For example, at home, we’ve designated one room, complete with all provisions, as the isolation room, in case one of us falls sick.
But while preparing for the worst, we’re also doing our best to stay cheerful and healthy. This includes taking socially-distanced walks with each other, enjoying the beauty of the hills, and eating mangoes together!
Every cloud has a silver lining — Growth and learnings
The lockdown has indeed been challenging, but it has also been a playground of opportunities. Some of us, like Arunima and Anish, have learnt to cook from scratch — progressing from simple dishes like daal to full-course meals that include egg curry, parathas, samosas-the works! For Swetlana, the lockdown has offered the chance to bond over art with her father. Meanwhile, Celina is planning to use her time to tutor young kids in her hometown.
Adds Samanth, “Because of this lockdown, I was finally reunited with my parents, 3 siblings, and my dog, Frooty — it’s a dream come true. I’m also using this time to pursue some personal projects on visual/digital ethnography related to UX research, as well as Digital Marketing.”
Along with family reunions, the lockdown has brought learning in its wake. Explains Jahnavi, “I’ve realized that I just have to learn to accept things — some days I’m going to be productive, other days I’m not, and that’s ok. Since our company is more goal-oriented, where we don’t work according to 9–5 rules, I can be more task-bound than time-bound.”
Anjeli echoes this sentiment of acceptance and adjustment while addressing productivity issues. She clarifies,” Human beings are not machines, we don’t have to be productive all the time. And sometimes, it’s important to survive rather than be productive. So it’s completely ok if the team is not 100% productive now, because I know that they will be productive in the long run. On the bright side, now that we’ve all adjusted to this ‘new normal’ or whatever we wish to call it, we’re back to our old pace of work.”
And regardless of what awaits us in the coming months, I believe it is this attitude of understanding, long-term planning, and more importantly, kindness to ourselves and others, that will be instrumental in getting us through these tough times. Here’s hoping for better and brighter days ahead.
